Vulnerable
by ladyd10
Summary: She's new and so very sick...how does Gibbs and Tony and the team respond to Ziva not being the strong warrior and felled by illness? Set in Season 3 winter.
1. Chapter 1

_**Vulnerable**_

_**A/N: In the wake of the sad news we all have gotten recently, I have actually gone back to the very beginning of Season 3 and the muse decided to play some games and this is what happened. If anyone knows what D.C. is like in winter, you'll understand. D.C. is built on a swamp, much like London or Chicago. While it doesn't get hideously cold in the winter (like Chicago), it is a bone chilling cold. Imagine that when you have grown up in a desert your whole life...**_

_**This is intended as an infant relationship of the Gibbs/Ziva father/daughter and a soft beginning of Tiva...though Tony needs to watch himself since Y Pestis. **_

It was a third day in a row that Mossad Liaison Officer Ziva David woke up feeling awful. She was undeniably cold, no matter how many blankets she piled on her bed or how high she set the space heater that Ducky gave her a month ago.

She rolled over and looked at her clock. 4:45 a.m.; time for her morning run. Ziva dragged herself out of bed, ran a brush through her curls, taming them by putting her hair in a ponytail, finished getting dressed and then ventured into the cold, damp, December morning, just days away from Hannukah. The air hit her already aching lungs, making her cough violently, making her chest and back ache even worse. After catching her breath, she began to run her regular route. About a mile an a half into her routine, she had to stop. She couldn't breathe and her chest and back were a mass of stinging nettles. She held onto a mailbox and allowed the stinging and burning to settle down before she chose to push herself further. With frequent stops and starts, she made her usual 5 miles, ending up back at her Silver Springs apartment a little before six. Cursing in Hebrew under her breath, she showered quickly, texting McGee to please get her a breakfast burrito when he picked up his and then broke several traffic laws getting into NCIS on time.

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNC ISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

She was seated at her desk, going over emails, when McGee strolled in a little after 0700. He tossed her her usual breakfast burrito of eggs, cheese, mushrooms, onions, garlic and green peppers. He placed a large ruby red grapefruit juice on her desk. She looked up at him with questioning eyes as she fished out the money to pay him back.

"You've been looking a little under the weather lately and I know you'd enjoy the juice," he said, hoping his judgment wouldn't be taken the wrong way. While she normally threatened Tony when she felt misjudged, slighted or wronged, and she had threatened him a couple of times and, frankly, she scared him shitless.

Her features scrunched in incomprehension. "Under the weather? What does that mean, Tim?" she asked, genuinely curious.

McGee shifted nervously, knowing she could take his explanation wrong. "I mean that you look like you're still not feeling all that well, given the fact that you're still getting over that cold and the change of climate from Israel and it being a desert country and all and this kind of cold and damp can be really hard to get used to and-"

Instead of taking insult at his statement and sentiment, she said, softly, "Thank you McGee. That was very thoughtful of you, but I am fine. I do appreciate the juice, though. Ruby red grapefruit, yes?"

McGee smiled at her, "Yeah. I remember you said you liked it."

He was rewarded with her most beautiful of smiles as she handed him his money and began to open her burrito. McGee felt himself flush a little and realized once more, what a beautiful young woman his new friend and teammate was. She already fascinated him with the wealth of "spy" knowledge she possessed in the very short time he had known her. She wasn't just some assassin, but an intelligent and capable operative, flexible in her thinking, funny whether she intended to be or not and an amazing cook. He already valued her as a new friend and trusted her completely at his back. When she told him that she had his six, he knew he was safe. He trusted her. Who best to protect his six, but a trained assassin on his side?

After sitting down at his desk and logging into his email account, he began to watch her, observing. She still looked under the weather. She ate listlessly, almost mechanically, yet drank her juice with passion. Every few minutes were punctuated by coughing and her hand drifting up to rub at the center of her chest as if it hurt. McGee was rapidly becoming concerned about his newest teammate. He felt a new kind of protectiveness begin to burn in hs chest. She was still sick.

The elevator dinged and Gibbs strode out, his signature first coffee of the day in hand. "David, McGee, where's DiNozzo?" he asked, eying his Mossad Liaison Officer. She looked like hell.

"Right behind you, Boss!" Tony piped up, exiting the stairway.

"Glad to see that you could make it," Gibbs said. "David, you okay?" he asked with a gentleness in his tone. She was pale and her breathing seemed to be off again. She was still clearly ill.

Ziva's head snapped up from her computer screen. "I am fine, Gibbs."

"Okay, just wanted to check since it's your first winter in D.C." He said. "East coast winters can be extreme on the toughest native of us. The cold, the damp and the Nor'easterners can take their toll. You need anything your first winter here, you just let me know and I'll help you find it."

She stifled a harsh cough as pain flared in her chest. She took a long sip of her juice. "Thank you, Gibbs."

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNC ISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

The call came out at 09:27. Dead Petty Officer in Triangle Park. Ziva couldn't help shivering against the frigid morning. Her lungs, back and chest were almost brittle with pain as she processed the site. She processed the scene slowly, often taking large swallows from her water bottle in an effort to calm the fire burning in her chest. It always worked in Israel. It was not working now. If anything, she began to feel worse. She could barely breathe without pain and a sense of...of...breaking bubble wrap in her chest. It was like having lungs full of seltzer when she breathed and it hurt.

Suddenly, the killer was flushed and she, McGee and DiNozzo took to the chase. Ziva ran less than 150 yards before she couldn't draw enough breath and slowed, her heart pounding, her lungs searing. She dropped to her knees and then onto her side as she wheezed and struggled to draw breath. The icy, wet air did nothing to help her and Gibbs dropped to his knees next to the young Officer.

"Ziva, are you hit?" She shook her head.

"Cannot breathe," she managed to whisper before coughing hard enough to nearly black out from lack of oxygen.

Gibbs was at a loss. "Do you have asthma?" She shook her head and coughed again.

"I cannot breathe," she said again and started to black out.

Gibbs called for an ambulance immediately. Whatever was happening to his young Officer was scaring him very badly. She couldn't breathe. She was pale and shaking, sweating, despite the cold. He took off a glove and felt her forehead. She was burning up. Something was very, very wrong. Up to this very moment, all he knew of her was to be a wildly strong slip of a girl. Intelligent, fearless tough and frighteningly invincible. Close enough to a Marine to earn his deep respect. Not knowing what else to do, he raised her head and shoulders and rubbed her back, trying to clear any blockage that might have settled there. She coughed violently and let go of a mess from her respiratory tract in the snow. It was stained pink.

Her breathing eased somewhat. "Thank you," she rasped. She lay her head on his shoulder. She felt so weak that it frightened her. The last time she felt so awful was when she was seven and had Scarlet Fever. She had nearly died. "How sick am I, Gibbs?"

"I don't know. The ambulance is on it's way and we'll find out," Gibbs said in the softest voice he had. He stroked back her hair and suddenly realized how very soft it was; the softest part of this impossibly young Mossad Officer he had come to know of her. He gazed at her and realized that she was not much more than a teenager, perhaps just out of college age, still, very much a kid. He felt paternal instincts beginning to stir in him toward her. So young... "Just try to relax and don't worry about the investigation. DiNozzo and McGee can handle it. You just get better. I don't want Jenny to have to explain to your father why we didn't take better care of you. You're getting checked out in the hospital. When you get well enough you have a head slap the size of the Grand Canyon coming to you for not telling me that you didn't feel good at the very beginning."

Ziva grinned up at him and coughed hard, holding her chest. "Promise?"

Gibbs raised his hand in a mock threat. "Oh, David, for this scare, I promise."

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNC ISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

Ziva lay quietly, an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose and an IV feed in her arm. Antibiotics were being pumped into her as Gibbs sat at her bedside, holding her hand as she slept peacefully.

The door opened and a doctor walked in. "You are...?"

"Her boss," Gibbs said. "NCIS. She almost got herself killed on a crime scene today because she's sick and collapsed. What's she got?"

The young doctor eyed the silver haired man for a moment before speaking. "She has a severe case of pneumonia. How long has she not felt well?"

"This morning."

"That can't be right because the infection took hold too fast."

Gibbs stared at the woman. "Could be since she was raised in a desert climate. She doesn't know what it's like to be wet and cold for days on end."

Doctor Webber stared at Gibbs. "Desert climate? She from Arizona or New Mexico?"

"Israel."

Doctor Webber made notes in her chart. "That makes everything different. She obviously has no immunity to this."

Gibbs became irritated. He stared hard at the physician. "What does that mean?"

"That means that we need to be more aggressive in her treatment. She has nothing in her to fight this. If she grew up in a climate that had wet, cold winters, she'd have some immunity. I can wager that she never even had much of a cold in her lifetime."

"She had one a few weeks back," Gibbs supplied.

The doctor nodded. "That helps to explain the severity of this. Pneumonia often presents worse after a cold. Her lungs have little to no defense against it because her immune system hasn't had a chance to return to normal yet. Being from a country that doesn't get real winters just adds to it. Mr. Gibbs-"

"Special Agent Gibbs," he interrupted.

"Special Agent Gibbs, I'd like to keep Ms. Da-"

"Officer David."

"Officer David overnight for observation and close monitoring," Dr. Webber said, duly corrected. This was Bethesda, after all. "Not only is her breathing very labored right now, but I do not like hearing the amount of congestion in her lungs. Are you sure she only complained that she was sick this morning?"

"Nope. Never complained. Officer David doesn't know how. She's Israeli Mossad, Kidon, and will never complain," Gibbs said, enlightening the doctor. "The cold she had, a couple of weeks back, would have sidelined any of the other agents on my team, yet she just grabbed tissue, some extra vitamin C and kept going, even though I could see she was miserable. She wouldn't admit to it and wouldn't stand down, even when ordered. Wouldn't even take half a day off to let herself feel miserable. She's one tough kid."

The doctor shook her head. "That toughness might have cost her."

"What do you mean, doctor?"

"She just didn't get sick overnight. She's been suffering for a few days. Didn't you know?"

Gibbs stared hard at the doctor before speaking. "I told you that she didn't complain and wouldn't stand down. She looked off, but wouldn't admit it and I couldn't make her go home and rest, and I tried. I ordered her to and she just gave me the death glare back and continued to work. She's Mossad and only our Liason Officer and I officially have no official control over her at this time. Goin' on respect. If I did, I would have relieved her of duty. You get this, doc?"

Doctor Webber nodded, having time dealing with Marine Elite Units coming back, broken and the only thing they had was courage and determination and devotion to their brothers. Mossad couldn't be much different, right? "She's too determined and proud to give up her teammates, or sacrifice them just because she needs to fight through."

Gibbs gave her a half smile for trying. "Yeah. She's one tough as nails kid. She's a fighter."

Suddenly, alarms went off in the room and Ziva arched and then lay very still.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Vulnerable**_

_**Chapter 2**_

_**A/N: I realize now that not everyone is in the loop to the sad news that we fans have received this month. For those of you that don't know, Cote de Pablo is leaving the show. Regardless what CBS says, my sources say that she chose to leave over pay equity. What she was ultimately offered was still far below Sean Murray's pay scale and she is our Leading Lady. I applaud her guts to stand up to the chauvinistic CBS.**_

_**Many plot lines have revolved around how she will leave. I'd like this one (mine, totally mine and not to be seen as anything CBS has released), since the scuttlebut is that they are, apparently,giving her an open door policy: Vance pulls Ziva into his office and offers her a job she, as an NCIS Agent with her particular skills, is uniquely qualified for. She is to be the Director of the new Field Office in Tel Aviv. She wants to turn it down, but realities that he is right and accepts the offer. See? Open door policy and Tony doesn't have to live without her, because we all know that he can't.**_

_**However, in this story, Ziva is still shiny penny new (not too far off of asking Tony if he was having phone sex) and only came to be the Mossad Liaison a few months ago.**_

_**I hope you enjoy. It's really short, but I wanted to leave you with a pfoof!**_

_**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNC ISNCISNCIS**_

Ziva arched her back and alarm bells went off.

"Doctor, her fever is spiking dangerously high!" a nurse informed.

Doctor Webber cursed under her breath. Her patient was at 105 and no indication that it would break. She, herself, was the daughter of an Admiral after all and her patient was the daughter of the Director of Israeli Mossad. "Stop that seizure right now! Chlorazapam! Let's get that cooling tub ready for her. There's no external injuries that we need to take account of. We need to cool her down before brain damage happens. We have to take in account that she grew up in a region of Israel that has no winter like we know and this is her first year here. She has pneumonia and has nothing to fight it with right now. Let's help her fight this thing."

Gibbs stood back, watching helplessly, as the medical staff continued in a flurry of activity around Ziva. His poor dear Ziva. He dialed Jenny. "Jen, Ziva is in the hospital. She collapsed at the scene. Doc says she has pneumonia and bad. I think you may need to call Deputy Director David. She's bad, Jen."

Jenny Shepherd took in what Gibbs told her, knowing that his fears were the truth. She had worked anti-terrorism ops with Ziva since 9/11 and had come to know her as a very capable, strong and nearly invincible woman. To be hospitalized and not fight it...Jenny was worried. This impossibly young woman used her smarts and Mossad training to save Jenny's life in Cairo. Now, this. Illness. Bullet wounds were easier. "How bad, Jethro?"

"She's seizing, Jen. Her fever is too high. The docs are doing all they can. She's unconscious and on oxygen and wheezing something terrible. She sounds awful, Jen. Get...Down...Here," Gibbs told her, his eloquence gave bare his concern for this young Mossad Officer.

NCIS Director, Jenny Shepherd, snapped to. Her Liaison Officer, and her friend, was in serious trouble. "Be there in 30, Jethro."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Vulnerable**_

_**Chapter 3**_

_**A/N; Thank you so much for all the reviews! I may not reply individually, but know that I do appreciate them.**_

Gibbs watched on, helpless, as the medical staff rushed in a blur around his new Liaison Officer. A portable metal tub was wheeled in and a nurse began to fill it with sightly warm water. Gibbs suddenly wished Ducky was there so he could explain what was going on. The doctors were speaking so fast that Gibbs could only catch a word or two from the distance he was made to stand. What he did hear, he didn't like. "Temperature is dangerously high", "Possible brain damage" and "Seizures" were what scared him the most. Suddenly, he heard the very familiar sound of Jenny Shepherd's high heels and well as the low, cultured rumble of Ducky's voice. He turned toward them.

"How is she, Jethro?" Director Shepherd asked, concern clearly visible on her face. It was her persuasion that got Ziva a spot at NCIS as a liaison between this agency and Mossad. She had assured Director Rubin and Deputy Director David that she would take care of Ziva, look out for her. She had no desire to call them and tell them that the young woman she welcomed into her Agency was in a hospital and fighting for her life, not from bullets or bombs, but from an illness.

"Not good, Director. They say that she has severe pneumonia and her fever is dangerously high. They need to get it down fast because there could be brain damage if it stays where it is. She's also just had a seizure. They said it was from the fever," Gibbs explained, running a hand over his face. First Tony with the Pneumonic Plague and now this one with plain old pneumonia and McGee with the Poison Ivy almost every time they'd needed to process a crime scene in the woods. Couldn't his team ever stay healthy?

Jenny nodded. "Ducky, can you enlighten us?"

"Of course, Director," Ducky said. "You see, right now her fever is so high that it can play Nine Pins with her brains. That is why she seized. It scrambled her brain's communication system. Now, I wouldn't be too worried about how high it is for a little while. You have to remember that fevers are the body's way of fighting off infections like the one she has. Her immune system is just over-reacting to the threat. It has to be up where it is for a prolonged period before actual brain damage occurs, but the quicker they get it down, the better it'll be. I see they've brought in a portable tub. I'll warrant that that nurse is filling it for a bath for Ziva to see if they can help her cool externally. She is likely to feel like she is freezing and, while the water is not cold by any means, it will feel like an ice bath to Ziva. It looks like they're going to put her in unconscious, which is probably for the best for now. Even weakened by the illness, Ziva would most definitely fight with them with that warrior instinct she has. That would not be a pretty sight."

Jenny smiled slightly, having seen Ziva fight quite a few times. She'd probably Kimbo slice through the defenseless medical staff and send them into their own Emergency Room. "Thank you for your assessment, Ducky. Is there anything we can do?"

"Just be here for her and let her know that, even though she's in a foreign country and her family is half the world away, that she does have people who care about her here and want her to be well," Ducky said, watching the activity in the cubicle. "Ah, the bath is ready. They'll most likely pull the curtains now for her modesty's sake."

Sure enough the curtains were pulled and Gibbs' anxiety level rose exponentially because he couldn't see what was going on. However, there was no shouting or cursing in Hebrew, nor was there and crashing or even splashing noises, so he was reasonably certain that Ziva was still out cold. He turned to Ducky. "Duck, they gave her something to stop the seizure. Chloraz-something. Is that why she's still out cold? DiNozzo told me that, even sleeping, she has a very heightened sense of awareness."

Ducky's eyebrows lifted. "When did she and Anthony sleep together?"

"A few weeks back when they were undercover as the Paniers. Tony said they slept in the same bed because they knew that they were under surveillance and it would look hinky if one slept on the couch. He said that she snores like a sailor with emphysema and he woke her up to see if it would stop the snoring and she put her Sig in his face. He said he barely touched her," Gibbs said.

Ducky nodded. "Yes, it can make you very sleepy. It is an anti-convulsant."

Jenny couldn't help smiling. "She didn't always snore, you know. When we were working together in Europe, she slept quietly until when we were in Germany. We were taking down the terrorists and had to fight. I swear this guy was a good foot taller than Ziva and had at least a hundred and twenty pounds on her. But she's lightning fast and has some of the most impressive reflexes I have ever seen. Anyway, she takes on this guy and held her own for a long enough time so that I could get free to help her. I had to put three rounds in him to drop him. By that time he had managed to give her a black eye and broke her wrist and nose. She snored after that. And DiNozzo is right. She is that loud."

Suddenly, the curtain was pulled back and they could see Ziva, hair wet and back in bed. Dr. Webber came toward them. She held out her hand to Gibbs. "My apologies, I realize that I never introduced myself earlier. I'm Doctor Monica Webber. I'm her primary." He nodded and shook her hand, She then offered it to the beautiful red-haired woman. "And?"

"Director Jenny Shepherd, NCIS," she said, shaking the physician's hand.

Ducky offered his. "Doctor Donald Mallard, although my friends call me Ducky. Until now I've been Officer David's doctor."

"General Practice"

"Medical Examiner." Seeing the surprise race through the blonde haired physician's eyes, he continued. "Officer David has only been here a few months and hasn't been able to find a regular doctor, so I fill in when she needs me. She never came to see me to let me know she was ill and I don't get out of Autopsy all that much. If anything, we all thought it was her cold lingering on as colds can do. If I had any indication that she was this ill, I would have encouraged Director Shepherd to relieve her of duty and ordered her to go to a doctor."

"So, she hid this from you with success?"

"No," Gibbs admitted. "I knew she was sick. I asked her, like I said before, and she wouldn't admit it. I can't make her do anything. She's new and on my team, but she's not NCIS, but Mossad. I can suggest; she can choose to ignore. She did with that cold back a few weeks ago."

"So, she resists expressions of concern?"

"You have to understand, Doctor Webber," Jenny began,"That Officer David's father is the Deputy Director of Mossad and she has been groomed for Mossad since she was very young. Admitting illness is seen as a weakness and unable to fulfill your mission. I have seen her take a bullet to the shoulder, stem it's bleeding and carry on with the mission until it was done. She refused medical treatment before the mission was over. It's no wonder now that she chose to soldier on, even though she knew she was sick."

Dr. Webber took time to process the information on her patient. "So, she's going to be a tough case?"

Jenny smiled at her, grateful to see the understanding dawning in the doctor's eyes. "Exactly."

_**A/N: Thanks for hanging around and reading, even though this chapter was later than I wanted it to be. Real Life interfered and I needed to focus my attention there for longer than I thought. Argh. I wanted to bring you a longer chapter, but the natural end was just right there. I believe in organics...and not just in food. So Ziva is going to be a hand-full. This can be fun. I have ideas, but I would love to hear from you and see if I can work your ideas into the story. I know where it's finally going to end up, but an assist would be mega-cool. Keeping Tony away while Ziva is extremely contagious because of his Plague infection in Season 2 is paramount. He can't get anywhere near her while she's contagious. However, once she's turned the corner and recovering can bring some gems. Help me get to that point with what you wish to read.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Vulnerable**_

_**Chapter 4**_

_**A/N: Again thank you for all the reviews and the suggestions for things to happen. Keep them coming! I'll see how I can weave them into the story as it progresses. While I ship Tiva, this, by virtue of placement in the time line (between Model Behavior and Boxed In), Tony and Ziva barely know each other, but that doesn't necessarily rule out hints of sweetness between them. Oh! Any dialogue in italics will be because Ziva will be speaking in Hebrew. While I speak some, I am not nearly fluent enough to do it justice.**_

Gibbs sat at Ziva's bedside, bathing her face and neck with cool water in an effort to get her fever to go down. It was 22:34 and she had only awoken once and was completely incoherent. He was fairly certain that part of that incoherence was due to her speaking at least half a dozen languages. He thought he recognized some French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic, besides what must have been Hebrew.

Suddenly, she stirred and her eyes opened. _"Abba, where am I? What is going on?"_

Gibbs gently turned her face toward him. "Ziver, look at me. Do you know me?" When she nodded, he continued. "I don't understand the language you're speakin' right now. Can you try for English?"

She nodded again and closed her eyes in concentration. After a few moments, she spoke, her voice heavily accented. "Gibbs. What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"No."

He ran a roughened hand over his face, feeling slightly impatient with her. He had to pull himself back and remember that she was running a high fever and her brains were somewhat fried at the moment. "You're sick, Ziva. You have pneumonia and didn't tell anyone and you collapsed on the crime scene today. You scared the hell out of everyone. Right now you're at Bethesda and are being taken care of," he said gently, continuing to bathe her face and neck.

Ziva blinked slowly. _"Sick? I do not get sick. In Mossad, one does not complain of being ill. I am fine."_ She began to get up.

Gibbs easily pinned her down. "David, English! You're sick; now stand down! Stand down!"

She fought with him with all the strength she could muster and yet he held her down easily. As she fought against his gentle restraint, her illness began to manifest itself. She began to cough violently. Pain from that coughing flared bright and hot in her chest and she ceased struggling and crossed her arms over her breastbone. Tears sprang to her eyes in reaction. The coughing wouldn't stop and she couldn't draw enough air to keep her vision from darkening.

Before warning bells could go off on her monitors and medical personnel could come in and alarm her even more, Gibbs reached over and grabbed an oxygen mask and placed it over her mouth and nose and turned the oxygen on full blast. "Easy, Ziva, easy. Breathe slowly; calm down," he coached, stroking back her soft curly hair. "That's it; relax and the coughing should stop. Easy."

Ziva looked up at Gibbs with huge, frightened, chocolate eyes and did her best to obey his orders, but it was hard. The pain in her chest and back felt almost as bad as a bullet wound. Her breathing was so very labored. She looked deep into his calm, wise blue eyes and concentrated on them as she fought with her spamming lungs. Her delicate hand slipped into his much larger one. She felt him squeeze just as the first alarm bell went off.

It was only seconds since the coughing fit began, but to Gibbs it felt like long minutes. The nurses rushed in, shoving him aside.

"What happened?"

"She had a coughing fit," Gibbs said, refusing to let go of Ziva's hand, once again struck by how young she really was. "She woke up confused and then started coughing. It got bad and I put the mask on her face."

The nurse continued to check Ziva's vitals, finally satisfied that her heart rate was returning to normal. "It's a good thing you did. She was definitely in acute distress. Are you her father?" she asked, noticing how tightly they held to each others' hands.

Gibbs shook his head. "Nope, boss. She's new here and I don't want her...more confused than she already is." He caught her grateful look and winked slightly, fully understanding that she had no desire to be seen as frightened and weak by anyone. He knew, but she seemed to be alright with him having that knowledge. "You're gonna be okay, kid; relax now and let these people do their jobs."

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISCISNCISNCISNCI SCNCINCISNCISNCISNCIS

Tony DiNozzo knocked on the Director's office door.

"Come in," Director Shepherd's voice said.

Tony opened the door and entered, striding up to her desk. "Director."

Jenny looked up from her paperwork, taking in the anxiety scribbled all over the Senior Field Agent. "What can I do for you, Agent DiNozzo?" she asked, laying down her pen.

Tony fidgeted. "Director, it's about Officer David. See, she's my partner and I barely know her, but it makes me sick to know that she's so sick and I want to do something to make her feel better, but I don't know what that is. You know her better than I do. What can I do to help her feel better?"

Shepherd looked up at him and removed her glasses. "I didn't know that you were so concerned about Officer David's welfare."

"She's my partner, Ma'am."

Jenny's eyebrow arched and she thought to tease him a bit. "What did I say about calling me Ma'am?"

"Not to, Director."

She graced him with a playful smile. "Exactly. Now how do you want to make your partner feel better? I do know Ziva very well. I can help you with this, but you need to tell me what you mean."

Tony shifted again, nervous as all hell. "She's so sick and I'm worried about her. She has to be miserable and...and...uncomfortable. She's in a foreign country with no family and I can't believe that she isn't a little scared. She's probably the toughest person I've ever met, but, right now, she's sick and scared and I just want to help her."

"So you want to comfort her?" Jenny asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, that's it. What can I do so she knows someone cares? Ducky said that she needs that right now, being half a world away from home," Tony said, relieved that Director Shepherd understood his need. "I do care, Director, and I want her to know that."

"I'm sure she knows that you care, Tony, but I know how you can show her in another way. You can start at her favorite Deli in DuPont Circle. I know what she likes from there and then you can rent her favorite movie..."

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISCISNCISNCISNCI SCNCINCISNCISNCISNCIS

Tony entered Ziva's hospital room quietly, surmising that she'd be asleep. Instead, he found Gibbs holding her hand. "Boss, how is she?"

"Holding her own for now. The fever is still high, but she's fighting. What's in the bag?" Gibbs asked.

Tony flushed slightly. "It's for Ziva. I talked to the Director and she said this might bring Ziva some comfort. She's my partner, Boss. I have to try."

Gibbs regarded him for a long moment. Tony was definitely maturing into the fine man he always saw in him. He gave him a small smile. "I know that Deli. You bring a pastrami on rye for me?"

"Always." Tony said, handing his boss the sandwich. "Got Ziva some matzoh ball soup with extra matzoh balls and some falafil and other things she might think was comforting. I just want her to get well, Boss, and making sure she eats well is a big part, right?"

Gibbs clapped the younger man on the shoulder. "Yeah, it is." He sniffed at the bag that DiNozzo held for Ziva. "That soup smells damn good. You stay with her and make sure she eats. Thanks for the sandwich."

"Anytime."

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISCISNCISNCISNCI SCNCINCISNCISNCISNCIS

It wasn't long before Ziva stirred and awoke. "Is that soup?"

Tony grinned at her. "Sure is, sweetcheeks. I went to your favorite deli and got you some. Hospital food sucks. I thought you'd like something better."

Ziva swallowed her drool. "Thank you, Tony." She reached out a shaky hand for the spoon. She let out a sob of despair when she could not still the shaking.

"Hey, no big deal. You're really sick. I'm your partner; let me do this for you," Tony said in his most gentle voice. He knew she was horribly ill and embarrassingly weak and just needed a hand. He slid his arm around her shoulders and then lifted the plastic spoon to her lips. "Let me help you. You can repay me some other time."

She nodded and opened her mouth and drank down every drop of the soup she could and ate the baseball sized matzoh ball. Tony tucked the other foods away since they could wait for later. Ziva snuggled into Tony's casual embrace and fell into a comfortable slumber.

_**A/N: Sorry to bug you again. Of course Ziva will recover because we have seven more seasons with her, but your suggestions as she recovers are a huge help. Angst can happen. Oh, and the giant matzoh ball is due to The Bagel in Skokie. The soup is amazing and served in a bathtub sized bowl with the giant matzoh ball in it. My fave. The broth is killer and the ball is a meal. Yes, I love Israeli/Middle Eastern foods. Comfort food, although my family is from Eastern Europe. I'm just weird. Thanks for accepting me.**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Vulnerable**_

_**Chapter 5**_

_**A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews and ideas. This chapter I thought I'd take a chance and explore what might have changed Abby's mind about Ziva. She was pretty hostile toward Ziva for a while and then had a change of heart, and Abby's is huge. Enjoy! Reviews re always welcome!**_

"Good evening, Officer David," a petite red-haired nurse said as she entered her room. "How are you feeling?"

Before Ziva could open her mouth to lie, Tony said quickly, "Lousy. She feels lousy. What kind of question is that? She's in a hospital bed for God's sake."

The nurse was not put off at all. This handsome man must care a good deal for her patient. "A polite one, Mr..." 

"Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. I'm her partner."

She nodded, checking Ziva's I.V. drip. "I'm Colleen Nivens and I'll be your night nurse, Officer David. Just call me Colleen."

"Ziva," she said, then violently coughed, making the machines spike.

Colleen leaned in and elevated Ziva's shoulders just like Gibbs had done that morning. She grabbed the bed pan and encouraged Ziva to spit up the congestion. By the time the coughing died away, Ziva was shaking uncontrollably and Colleen just rubbed her back. "It's over, Ziva; it's over. You can relax now."

"Thank you," Ziva croaked and coughed a little more.

"No more talking. I need to take your temperature," Colleen said, popping a digital thermometer in her patient's mouth. Less than 30 seconds later it shrilled. The nurse looked at the read-out and frowned. Ziva's temperature still had not dropped. It still remained at 105.

Ziva's eyes were closed, the coughing fit exhausting her, but Tony's eyes never left Colleen's face. "What is it?"

Colleen considered a moment before answering him. "Her temperature is still far too high. We're just lucky that she hasn't seized again. I need to speak with Dr. Webber. We may need to do another immersion bath to try and cool her down."

Tony's emerald orbs darkened in concern. "What is that?" Protectiveness over his new partner burned in his chest.

"We bring in a portable tub, fill it with warm water and then immerse her in it for no less than 20 minutes at a time. Half an hour is the norm. We gently pour the water over her entire body in an attempt to cool her externally. It's remarkably effective in breaking stubborn fevers like hers. I'll also see that she has a supply of fruit popsicles to help her cool internally. Does she have any favorite flavor?"

Tony thought for a moment. "Berries and mango, even better if you put them together. She likes Berry Mango Madness from that smoothy place."

Colleen graced him with a smile, her blue eyes dancing. "Great! I'll make sure she has access to fruit smoothies, too. Anything we can do to get this fever down. Let me speak with Dr. Webber and see if she wants to try another bath tonight."

With that, Colleen left the room. Tony's gaze fell on his dozing partner, worry etched on his face. He stepped over to the bed and gently fingered her soft curls."We need to get you well again, sweetcheeks. You need to pull through this. We need you. I need my partner back."

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISCISNCISNCISNCI SCNCINCISNCISNCISNCIS

Tony stepped out of his sleeping partner's room to Gibbs smacking him hard on the back of his head.

"Ow, Boss! What was that for?" Tony exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head.

"For not usin' protection."

Tony was confused. Did he think that he was sleeping with Ziva? Yeah, they had slept together...undercover as a married couple, but that's all. Not that she wasn't tempting...he did see her completely naked and she was stunning..."What?"

Gibbs handed him a face mask and a box of latex gloves. "Protection; or did you forget that you had the Plague last year and your lungs are all scarred up? You know how easy it is for you to catch what she's got? I don't need the two of you out."

"Right, Boss," Tony said, feeling like an idiot. In his concern over his new partner's health, he had completely forgotten to take care of his own. "I was just so worried about her that I forgot. I just wanted to do something to comfort her. I went to the Director and she clued me in. It's just, Boss, when we got back to you and I saw her so weak and helpless in your arms, I got scared. We just lost Kate. I thought for sure we were going to lose Ziva, too."

"Well, we still might if her fever doesn't go down," Gibbs said. "I talked to Colleen. She says it hasn't dropped yet."

Tony shook his head. "No, it hasn't and Colleen told me that they might try another immersion bath tonight to try and get it down."

Go home,DiNozzo. I'll stay with her for a while."

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISCISNCISNCISNCI SCNCINCISNCISNCISNCIS

When Ziva woke next it was to view Abby's concerned face. "Abby. I did not expect to see you here. I never expect to make friends or anyone who cares no matter where I go."

Abby's heart clenched hearing this. Had she judged the other woman so wrong? "I haven't been very nice to you because I'm still grieving over Kate. She was my friend and you came in too fast and were too new. But, I can't stand knowing that you're so sick and suffering. I guess we're becoming friends and I'd like that a lot if we did," Abby said in a rush.

Ziva reached over and touched Abby's hand. "I think I would, too. "A violent round of coughing sent the monitors screaming and Abby held her new friend's hand tight.

"I have you, Ziva and I won't let go. I really do care about you, even if I didn't act like it at the time. Please believe me! Don't leave me too! I couldn't take it! Please stay with me!" Abby prayed out loud as her new friend started to convulse. Abby held her hand tight through the fit. The drugs were administered and Ziva lay quiet.

Slowly Ziva's vitals stabilized and Abby got to take a deep breath as Ziva's eyes fluttered open and focused on her. "Abby...what..."

"It's okay and you're going to be okay. Don't worry. You had a little seizure and you're going to be okay. The doctors told me. You're just fine as long as you stop seeing pink elephants."

"I am not seeing any elephants of any color, Abby."

Abby smiled. "Not blue or purple ones?"

"No elephants, Abby."

"Good, then you're going to be okay. I want to check your temperature," she said, shoving a thermometer into Ziva's mouth. She was rewarded a few seconds later with a beep. She frowned. "It hasn't gone down, Ziva. Your fever is still too high. I need to tell the nurses. You're going to be okay. I promise you will. Don't worry. You're going to be okay. I promise." Abby said as she ran down the corridor to the nurses' station to alert them on the latest news. As a scientist, it wasn't

pink elephants or farting stuffed hippos she was worried about.

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISCISNCISNCISNCI SCNCINCISNCISNCISNCIS

She tried calling Gibbs and McGee and Tony and they were all out at a hot crime scene and couldn't come to the hospital no matter how badly they wanted to. Ziva was a member of their family, even being so new, yet they had a crime, a murder to investigate. Abby was on the verge of freaking out. Ziva's fever still hadn't gone down and the doctor, Doctor Webber, called for another immersion bath. But, Ziva was awake and fighting it and Abby didn't know what to do. She wasn't even sure she liked Ziva the tiniest bit yet. Gibbs told her to do what she thought best, but knocking Ziva over the head with a bed pan into unconsciousness didn't sound right. Ziva was scared and Abby was scared for her. She did the only thing she felt she could do. "I'll get in and help her. I'll help hold her down. She might literally kill me, but she won't stay in by herself and-"

"Ms. Scuito, are you sure? Officer David is terribly violent right now," Colleen said, nursing a black eye.

"Let me try. She's so new to our country and only knows the team and they can't be here right now. I'm it. At least I'm it until they bring me forensics and I have to be gone, but right now I'm all she's got. Let me try," Abby pleaded. She looked at the young woman, little older than a girl, in the bed and nodded. "I have to help her." Maybe she liked her a little bit.

Colleen nodded and led her away from the room. She handed Abby a makeshift bathing suit. "We will need you to get in the water with her. Can you do that?"

Abby took the one piece suit in her hand. "Uhm, yeah, but." Abby nodded. "It's good enough. This is a bathing suit?"

"It's what we have."

Abby nodded, taking the suit. "Good enough."

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISCISNCISNCISNCI SCNCINCISNCISNCISNCIS

"Ziva no, honey! Ziva no! You gotta relax, please for Gibbs and Tony! For me, Please!"Abby pleaded with her, earning a black eye. "You didn't mean that. I know you didn't. I'm getting in and holding you. You have to be scared and I'm going to help. I'm getting in and I am going to hold you. We have to be friends. This is put up or shut up, I care about you, Ziva. Why would I fight with you through this? Why would Gibbs ask me to help? Gibbs."

"Gibbs?" Then Ziva coughed violently.

Abby rubbed Ziva's back in soothing circles as she continued to hold the Mossad Liason Officer in the immersion bath. "That's right, Gibbs. He cares about you and so do I even if I had been a little mean. I was grieving and-it doesn't matter. What matters is you getting better and you have to stay in the tub with me to do that."

Ziva choked a couple of times. "I cannot breathe right. I am never sick. What is this, Abby?"

"You have pneumonia, Ziva. That's why you can't breathe right. Your temperature is really high and that's why we're in this bath. Sit in the water with me. Please. I'm so scared for you. Are you scared?"

Ziva paused for a moment and then nodded, breaking down. "Do not tell the team. I have to be strong. I am Mossad and we are-"

"You are sick in a really bad way right now. I promise I won't tell. It's our secret," Abby said as she cuddled Ziva closer, beginning to rock her as Ziva cried in illness and pain and she tried to try to soothe her. "It's our secret and I promise I won't tell. Just be well again."


	6. Chapter 6

_**Vulnerable**_

_**Chapter 6**_

Tony put his mask and gloves back on and entered his partner's room. Abby was dozing in the chair next to Ziva's bed; Ziva was sound asleep. He gently shook the scientist's shoulder. "Abby, hey, Abs, wake up."

"Tony?"

"Yeah, I'll take over now," he told her. "How is she?"

"Her fever is still high, or was, when they gave her another immersion bath. She was awake this time and freaking out-"

"You have a black eye." Tony said, tenderly reaching for the livid bruise.

"Ziva," Abby said. "No, don't be mad. She was disoriented and frightened and so feverish. She didn't mean it, Tony!" her voice softened further. "She was scared. So scared. The docs were putting her into another bath and she was fighting it. She didn't know and her understanding of English was slipping fast. I got in with her and she socked me one. Then she...was better about it and let me help her."Abby stopped herself in time, remembering her promise to the Israeli. "She was better after that. I promise, Tony. She was only sick and scared. She didn't mean it. Don't be mad at her."

Tony took in Abby's earnestness. "I won't be. Go put some ice on that when you get home. So far there's no case. I brought you a Caf-Pow and a bagel. Eat and go home. Gibbs said it was okay since you stayed all night."

Abby reluctantly nodded. "Her fever still hasn't gone, down. So she's still really sick. You might need to get into an immersion bath with her because she hates them. Tony, if you do, let her know you care because I know you do. Don't lie to her. Be kind because she really needs it."

Tony gave her a small smile. "I know. She's my partner and new here and probably scared a bit. Sick isn't on her list of learning about America. Scared is what I'd be being sick in a foreign country with just folks that I'd call co-workers list. She needs us; I get that."

"She might punch you out in a bath again." Abby said.

"I can take it."

"Okay, don't say I didn't warn you," Abby said, gathering her things and leaving. She turned before she opened the door. "Tony, tell Ziva that I really do like her and I'm sorry for the way I've been behaving."

Tony regarded the forensic scientist for a moment. "The fact that you helped her like you did today tells her that. Thanks for helping my partner out, Abs."

"My pleasure, Tony."

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISCISNCISNCISNCI SCNCINCISNCISNCISNCIS

"No, Ziva, relax, wake up! It's a fever dream," Tony said, shaking his partner gently. "C'mon, wake up, Sweetcheeks. Remember when I called you that? Do you remember that case?"

Ziva let out another strangled cry and thrashed violently. The dream was wildly vivid and was half memory, half fiction. She was being interrogated by some unknown entity. She was tied to a chair and a blindingly bright light was in her eyes. She could not see her captors. A knife sliced down her right arm, drawing blood. She fought crying out at the pain as she felt the blood flow toward her bound hands. Her father would never accept her crying out in pain. "What do you want?"

"Tell me why you're in Afghanistan."

"No. I cannot." Another slice, carefully avoiding the blood vessels that would cause her to bleed out.

"Unacceptable."

"No. Screw you!"

Another slice and warm blood ran down her right arm again and then she was being shaken, gently, but the motion began to disintegrate the scenario before her. She began hearing a familiar voice calling to her. Sweetcheeks. She knew that from somewhere. She chose to concentrate on that and suddenly she was congested and chilled, or was that too warm, and a male voice was talking to her. A familiar male voice.

"That's it, Ziva, fight the dream. It's only a dream," Tony said. He was familiar with fever dreams and their uncanny ability to be and feel so real after his bout with pneumonic plague. "C"mon, you can fight this. It's just a dream. Ziva, fight it," he said, shaking her a little harder, then. Her eyes popped open and were wild for a few seconds and then she relaxed.

"Doctor?"

"What? No," Tony said and then he remembered that he was wearing a surgical mask and gloves. He pulled the mask down so she could see him in her fevered state. "It"s me, Tony. I have to wear the mask because...because I have a cold and I could make you sicker." He stroked her sweat dampened hair back from her forehead and pulled the mask back up with the other. "I don't want to make you feel worse."

"I do not think I can," she admitted.

Tony's heart was breaking for his new partner. She was tough as nails and scared him regularly, but she needed him now. "Is there anything I can do or get you to help you feel better?"

"Hospital food is terrible. More from Kaufman's, please?" Ziva requested. She moaned softly as her stomach rumbled loudly. "I'm hungry, I think. That growl means that, right?"

Tony stroked her damp hair. "You want matzoh ball soup again? Maybe a little falafil and hummos?

She nodded. "Even if I throw it up, yes. This stuff is awful. Do not they understand I am from Israel and cannot eat this? They gave me bacon for breakfast and pork sausages. They were all on the same plate and I could not eat anything but the toast. I do not keep Kosher, but will not actually eat pork."

"But you ate the pepperoni pizza when we first met."

Ziva shook her head, regretting it when it made her dizzy. "I ate the cheese and pulled the pepperoni off. You did not see. Mixing cheese and meat is not an issue, pork is. Can you talk to them for me? I think I might stab someone with a plastic knife if I do not have something I can actually eat."

Tony understood his partner entirely. To heal, you need to eat and if you eat crap, less likely to heal. "I'll stop by Kaufman's today and get you what you need. Soups, falafil and hummos. Anything else?"

Ziva nodded, knowing it would take days to finish all of it. "They make this sauteed mushrooms and hummos side dish. Can you get that too?" She regarded Tony for a minute with her fever bright eyes. "I can share, you know. I really am not a selfish person. We can divide it up between sick and healthy, if you want. I want you to know my comfort foods and where I am from. I want to know your America. I teach you and you teach me, yes?"

Tony nodded. "Fever talking."

"No," Ziva said, clearly. "This is going to be my home for as long as I am here. I need to learn. If you will teach me American comfort foods, I will teach you the Israeli ones." Ziva let out a long string of coughs that had her with a kidney shaped tray under her mouth as the nurse pounded her back and shot DiNozzo evil glares. Finally, Ziva calmed down. She was pale and looked exhausted, but her eyes, large in her wan face, wandered straight to Tony. "Do what you promised. Bring home to me. I trust you, Tony. Bring me a bit of my homeland."


End file.
